Monday, December 5, 2022
Al and I meet in July, 1965, in Army basic training. E. Company, 3rd Battalion, Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Al went through Basic Combat Medical Training, along with my cousin, Harry Orcutt. The the of us will go into San Antonio on the weekends. After their training, Al and Harry were sent to Germany; however, I was assigned they at Fort Sam. Al got out of the army in 1967, but I reenlisted. We met again in 1970, when I was transferred to Washington, D.C.; I had a motorcycle, and would ride up to see Al (and Cookie) in Honesdale. I remember he had a car, I think it was an Oldsmobile Cutlass, in a barn. One weekend, Al and a buddy took me to this fairground with a VERY unusual exhibit! Al also took me to see the paper distribution company where he worked. One time, Al told me his father had worked "in women's underwear!" Later, he explained that his dad was a supervisor in a textile mill in Honesdale. Last time I saw all was in the house he had built. I was very sorry when he told me that he and Cookie had split up. Wow, hard to think of him as being gone; miss that laugh and mischievous grin of his. Your old army buddy, David Hess
